Confederations Cup

Here are the results of the two games that were played in Group A:

Brazil 4-2 Italy.

Neymar proved the inspiration once again as Brazil gave themselves the best chance of avoiding a semi-final with Spain by topping Group A with a dramatic victory over Italy in Salvador.

The 21-year-old lit up the Arena Fonte Nova with a spectacular second-half free-kick while striker Fred scored twice to set the Selecao on their way to a third straight win in the Confederations Cup.
Substitute Dante had prodded in to give Brazil the lead on the stroke of half-time, only for Emanuele Giaccherini to bring Italy level with a fierce shot early in the second half.
Neymar then produced his moment of magic, before Fred appeared to put the game beyond Italy with 23 minutes remaining.
Italy, however, came roaring back with a controversial and scrappy goal from Giorgio Chiellini. The Azzurri had the better of the final quarter of the match but Brazil made certain late on when Fred pounced as Gianluigi Buffon failed to hold Marcelo's shot to send the stadium into raptures.

The result means Brazil are likely to meet Uruguay in a semi-final in Belo Horizonte on Wednesday. Italy face the prospect of a last four meeting with world champions Spain in Fortaleza, 24 hours later.

Much too had been made of the battle between two of the world's most gifted young players in Neymar and Mario Balotelli. Both were forced to ride some fierce, physical challenges throughout the game but underlined their immense talent with outstanding displays at either end.

Japan 1-2 Mexico.

Two second-half headers by Javier Hernandez saw Mexico depart the Confederations Cup on a winning note as Japan finished bottom of Group A.

Andres Guardado, who headed against the woodwork, provided the cross which saw Hernandez open the scoring after a fine run by the Manchester United man.
Both teams were already eliminated, but Mexico sealed the win when Hernandez scored from Giovani Dos Santos' corner.

Shinji Okazaki scored a consolation before Hernandez missed a late penalty.

Hernandez was hauled down by substitute Atsuto Uchida before the 25-year-old got to his feet to take the spot-kick which was kept out by Eiji Kawashima.
In a dramatic finale, the ball rebounded back to Hernandez who missed out on a hat-trick by blazing his second attempt against the bar.
However, the miss did not prove costly as Mexico finished third behind Brazil and Italy in the four-team group.

So after that game this is how Group A looks at the end of the group stages.

	P	W	D	L	Pts	GD
Brazil	3	3	0	0	9	+7
Italy	3	2	0	1	6	+0
Mexico	3	1	0	2	3	-2
Japan	3	0	0	3	0	-5